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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28349358">The Cruel Tune of Heroism</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mapoftheizone/pseuds/mapoftheizone'>mapoftheizone</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Vocaloid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Childhood Friends, Elemental Magic, F/F, F/M, Hatsune Miku-Centric, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kagamine Len and Rin Are Siblings, Luka is 17 in this, Slow Burn, Superpowers, mostly - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:42:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,723</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28349358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mapoftheizone/pseuds/mapoftheizone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hatsune Miku can control lightning. She thought she'd never do anything with her powers, or really account to anything outside of her limited friend group.<br/>And on the first day of senior year, everything changes, for her and her friends, in immeasurable ways. Her sense of normalcy is gone with a bang, and she finds herself in the most dangerous adventure of her life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatsune Miku/Megurine Luka, Kaito/Meiko (Vocaloid)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Cruel Tune of Heroism</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey! First chaptered fic! I know this fandom is very niche, but since Project Sekai is gaining popularity and the fanbase seems to be making a comeback, well, why not? Let me know what you think, comments and kudos are very appreciated! I hope you guys like it.... things are going to get wild for what I have planned hehe :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the distant outskirts of a modern city, a girl sits alone. She calmly watches the water in the river, keeping herself warm with the lightning sparks she can create with her fingers, fidgeting with them in her hand as if she were playing with a coin. She looks up, staring at the moon, the chill breeze making her twin pigtails sway under its slight glow.</p><p>She stands up after a while, and begins walking towards the gate of the power plant across the street. She gets in through an unnoticed hole in the fencing surrounding it (and now that she thinks of it, she needs another plan for when they get it fixed). She walks over to the wiring, standing alone among the lights and metallic cables, and she focuses, hoping that this time she will make progress.</p><p>This is the third round tonight, twentieth this weekend, God only knows how many times she has done this over the past month alone. And yet, here she stands, ready to repeat what has become routine to her, her identity hidden as a secret in the dark of the night.</p><p>She raises a hand. Her intense gaze is focused on one of the transformer boxes. The girl’s thin outline contrasts the immense energy surrounding her, as well as the intimidating structure. The lights begin to flicker, slightly at first, but she maintains her composure, concentrating harder. A spark flies from a nearby tower. It surrounds her, like a bee flying around a flower. A second jolt follows, this time coming from one of the cables attached to the box itself. Then a small ray fires at the sky like reverse lightning. The girl moves her hands around, the static surrounding her lifting small rocks off the ground, her hair rising up, until both blue pigtails are completely up in the sky, as she finds herself in the middle of an electric tornado focused in the middle of the power plant. The nearby road lights are going insane. Her sweater and tie are swaying almost uncontrollably, but she doesn’t falter. She grits her teeth and steadies herself, before raising her hand, and as she does that, all of the energy rises from the tornado and forms a beam of light that flies up into the air, leaving behind a strenuous thunder that scares away any surrounding wildlife in a two mile radius. The rocks go down, the lights stabilize.</p><p>Soon enough, she’s no different from any normal girl again, she thinks, and she holds onto that thought as she calmly walks down next to the river, sitting down on the grass.</p><p>Her phone rings. She glances at the caller ID, a familiar picture of a blue-haired man with a scarf meeting her eyes, and she slides her finger to reply.</p><p>“Hello? Earth to Miku, are ya there?” he asks in a playful tone. “You’ve been out for an awfully long time, are you alright?”</p><p>“I’m okay. I was just practicing with my Trait. I can’t exactly get to the power station in the morning without drawing suspicions,” she replies.</p><p>“Or possibly hurting someone.”</p><p>“That too.” She begins fidgeting with the electricity again. “But it’s not like if I make a light show with everyone at work and nobody gets injured, that’s suddenly gonna fly under the radar of the news… Or any radar, for that matter.”</p><p>“Well, I assume superpowers come with a price. Not showing them off has to be one of them.”</p><p>“You’re a showoff anyway!” Miku jokingly scoffs. “How many times have you done the fishing trick to impress someone?”</p><p>“Only you and Len. And I’m pretty sure he’s sick of it.”</p><p>“God, he lives his life complaining about it, you have no idea.”</p><p>“I still think it’s cool, though.”</p><p>“Tch, I can do better.”</p><p>“Well, that’s pretty apparent, miss Walking-Plasma-Globe.”</p><p>“That’s not my last name.”</p><p>“You get all the cool stuff, let me have this!”</p><p>Miku laughs at her friend’s playful annoyance. “Only if I get to sing that one song about being blue every time I see you.”</p><p>“There’s multiple of those songs, but considering it’s this or getting owned at my own game, I’ll take it.”</p><p>A beat passes. The cars passing through leave behind a soft underlying sound, which serves as a lullaby to Miku’s ears. She looks at the buildings across the river, the blinding lights a wonderful complement to the stars, almost out of an urban fairytale. Her friend, however, quickly pulls her out of her trance when his voice resounds through the phone’s speakers.</p><p>“I’ve told you this before, but…” The man cuts himself off, before continuing. “Are you sure you’ve got it under control? I-I mean, yes, you’re incredibly capable, I’ve seen it whenever when we hang out, but--”</p><p>“Kaito.” Miku closes her eyes and sighs. “It's okay. I’m practicing for a reason. I’m not gonna hurt myself with the energy, nor am I gonna leave half the country without power for a week.”</p><p>Kaito takes a moment to collect himself, a little startled. “Well, okay, whatever you say, twintails! I’m gonna trust you on this one. But you gotta promise me that you’re not gonna let your guard down, okay?”</p><p>“Fine…” Miku rolls her eyes and goes to pinch her nose, unaware that she still has a small amount of energy coursing through from her fidgeting. The small shock is relatively painless, but it does make her flinch. She yelps. “Motherfucker!”</p><p>“Did something just happen?”</p><p>Miku nods. “Just shocked myself. Goddamnit.”</p><p>“Miku…”</p><p>“Look, I know. Trust me, I know, I’m working on it.”</p><p>“Quite the timing, too. One could say it energized this conversation.”</p><p>“Was that a pun?”</p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p>“Kaito Shion, oh my God.” Miku can hear grinning through the phone.</p><p>“Well, I think it’s time you should go home. School starts tomorrow for you, doesn’t it? Senior year of high school is quite a big deal!”</p><p>“Alright, I’ll go back home.”</p><p>“Good. Text me when you get there, ‘kay?”</p><p>“Okay. Talk to ya in a bit.” And with that, Miku hangs up.</p><p>Miku stands up and walks to the nearest lamp post. She places a hand on it, and focuses all of her energy on it. She concentrates, inwardly making sure her balance is on check, and begins to channel something. Visualizing a masterful dancer control every muscle in their body, a violin player expertly creating intricate melodies, except instead of an art form, what she was controlling was the energy in her own body.</p><p>A lightning strikes the lamp post, and her entire body becomes one with it. She takes on its electricity, immense amounts of it coursing through the post. What was once a girl is now, temporarily, a being made of pure energy. In a fraction of a second, she uses the energy to travel through the wires of the lamp post, finding her way home through the entire city’s electrical system.</p><p>She finally arrives at her room, entering through an unplugged outlet, her energy calming down, allowing her physical body to materialize again. The entire process has left her out of energy, and she is exhausted. She chooses to go to bed, barely even bothering to get into her pajamas, tucking herself inside her cozy blanket and closing her eyes for the night.</p><p>-------------------</p><p>First day of senior year. It is quite the achievement in anyone else’s eyes. But for Miku, all she wants is to survive the year and then go to college. She’d love to forget about the useless people in her class surrounding her, but she’s stuck with these faces until next July. She sighs as she gets out of the bus and starts walking to the building where most fun goes to die a miserable death in her eyes.</p><p>Her school building is rather large, at least three stories high, designed with a modern style with a slight tinge of futurism. Walls painted white, lots of windows all around, and a front gate surrounded by trees, with even a small fountain in the middle. While the outside is already impressive, the classrooms themselves have a much more classic look, albeit very well lit by the amount of natural light reaching the school.</p><p>Miku walks through the grey brick road leading to the door from the outer gates. There are tons of people chit-chatting and catching up after vacation, and groups of people making small talk as far as the eye can see. When Miku enters the school itself, she is passed by a group of popular girls, and she can barely catch them saying something about boys and summer love. She rolls her eyes and walks up the stairs, and she’s halfway to her classroom when she hears a voice calling her from behind.</p><p>“Miku! Miku, wait up!”</p><p>Miku barely has time to turn around and grab the railing when she’s pulled into a hug. She smiles when she recognizes the blonde short teen hugging her, and she hugs back. “I’m glad to see you too, Rin.”</p><p>“You have absolutely no idea what the summer break has been like.” Rin is full of joy and energy, and that is something Miku enjoyed about hanging out with her. “I think Len actually saw a ghost, but I’ve mostly been occupied with my new bowtie style. I think it’s cute, I dunno… I bought this one last month.” She shows Miku the white bow on her headband. “I have another three of these.”</p><p>“That’s quite a lot of them, isn’t it?” Miku giggles. “They suit you well, though.”</p><p>Rin’s eyes beam, and she turns around to bicker at her twin, who’s been a few steps behind the whole time. “See? I told you it was pretty!”</p><p>Len rolls his eyes, arms crossed, his messy hair still uncontrolled by his short ponytail. His hair is just as yellow as his twin sister’s, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. “I never said it wasn’t, Rin. All I said was to not spend your entire summer allowance on bows, and you didn’t listen to me on that one.”</p><p>“But I liked them…”</p><p>“Rin’s got a point, you know. If it makes her happy, isn’t that enough?”</p><p>“Please don’t encourage her. Any more and she’ll take my money this time. And I have way too many things I’d like to buy with that this month, so thanks, but no thanks.”</p><p>Rin does her best to look a little offended and throws on her cutest impression of a sad puppy looking at Len. Len walks past her and briefly hugs Miku, dropping his serious demeanor. “Good to see you, by the way. Hopefully our schedules match up in classes more often this year.”</p><p>“Yeah! And I hope the classes aren’t as boring. Art History was, uh, annoying, to say the least,” Rin complains.</p><p>Miku giggles and gets going. “Well, see you guys during the break. Make sure to tell me the ghost story, okay?” The twins wave and head to their own class.</p><p>Miku opens the door to her class and sits down on a desk by the window, in the middle of the row. Not too close to the front to be seen as a teacher’s pet, not too far back to be associated with the slacker bullies, and not center enough to be the target of mocking and jeering by the “cool” crowd. She opens a notebook and starts doodling, looking at the people entering slowly, one by one. A guy with purple hair with a mock katana replica, a girl with a long reddish ponytail and a red dress, a girl with white hair in two braids, and many more faces that blend in the classroom, none of them make any difference in Miku’s eyes.</p><p>Except when a girl with long, pink hair sits down next to her, and that’s when Miku realizes who she is.</p><p>“Luka?” Miku asks the other girl, who looks at her dumbfounded for a second, and that’s when the realization hits her.</p><p>“Miku?!” Luka turns her body at her and lets out a quietly surprised laugh, her grey sweater sagging a little bit off her desk. “Oh my God, how long has it been? I haven’t seen you since, like, the beginning of middle school!”</p><p>“I know! Did you switch schools or something?”</p><p>“No, I’ve always been here… I thought you moved!”</p><p>“That’s so weird…”</p><p>“I know…” Miku sighs, and a beat passes. It feels strange. A day she thought would be absolutely miserable just turned a little more interesting.</p><p>Miku and Luka spend most of the time before class making up for lost time, before the bell rings, and the professor comes in. He starts talking about the newest order of business and his class schedule, but all Miku can think of is Luka sitting next to her. Miku doesn’t know how they fell out of contact, but everything seems to click immediately where they left off. It seems like this year will be special, and a lot less monotone than normal.</p><p>She doesn’t immediately learn how much things can change in a second, until they do.</p><p>A sound far away distracts the class. It sounds like a slight droning, maybe from a few streets away. Miku looks at the window, but she doesn’t think much of anything for about fifteen minutes (<em>it’s probably construction work nearby</em>, she thinks), when the droning is still ignorable. The noise gets much louder after, and even the professor acknowledges it. He makes a joke to ease the tension, but Miku can sense something isn’t quite right.</p><p>Miku looks out of the window again, and she notices a glowing light far away that wasn’t there before. It seems to be at the other side of the city, but it is surprisingly bright and painful to look at for it to not worry her. It starts to grow, shining brighter, almost as bright as the 8:30AM sun. At this point, the droning has gotten almost unbearable, more overwhelming, and almost everyone in the class has their ears covered. A student calls the professor to look, and now most people are staring outside as well, asking what the mysterious glow could be, all over the school.</p><p>And, in a second, something snaps. The light becomes blinding, and a massive blast resounds throughout what feels like the entire state. The explosion’s strength shatters windows, it causes the walls to shake, and pushes the light even further. The entire class ducks, boys and girls alike screaming. Miku fears the building could collapse on itself, and she refuges herself between her desk and Luka’s, keeping herself safe from everything in any way she could, using her bag to protect both of them from the debris, and Luka has the same idea. </p><p>The light doesn’t die down for almost a minute. Once it is finally safe to open their eyes, Miku stares directly at a shaking Luka, who looks around in confusion and shock with erratic breaths and a fast heartbeat. Miku stands up, her own adrenaline kicking in, and looks outside. Nothing could have prepared her for what she sees through the space where the windows used to be. She walks out of the room to get a closer look, standing in the middle of the mess that once were her hallways, which is now being filled by people evacuating their classrooms, who run in all directions trying to reach the stairs.</p><p>The sky is now purple. The dust doesn’t form a mushroom cloud, but it is instead orbiting around the site of the blast in a circle. Pieces of tall buildings near the site of the blast are now rising, forming a sort of tower, a factory. They levitate, being discernible enough for Miku to see from her school. And on top of it all, it seems a strange black orb is lifting everything up, like a black hole, almost as if it were preparing to swallow everything up. Miku stands there, frozen in place, mouth wide open, for what seems like an eternity to her, before Luka pulls her by the hand and forces her to leave the building with her.</p><p>“Miku, come on! We have to get out of here, and now!” Luka screams, pulling Miku out of her trance, and they both run down to safety.</p>
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